Wordless: a poet’s fight with Alzheimer’s

Directed by:Almudena Toral

Jack Agüeros remembers the lyrics of certain Puerto Rican folk songs and the name of his petite, growling dog: Nikki. He has forgotten that he is the author of four books and and a handful of plays. He wrote sonnets and satiric psalms about immigration, poverty and social inequality. “I don’t remember any of that,” Mr. Agüeros admitted to his daughter. He kept an irregular diary — “the Alzheimer’s chronicle” — but over time lost the ability to read and write.

Almudena Toral

Almudena Toral is a visual journalist and filmmaker. Her work has been published by The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, AlJazeera, Univision, VICE, Huffington Post, Marie Claire, Canal+ and other outlets. She currently heads the feature video team at Univision News Digital in Miami. Previously, Toral taught video storytelling at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, pursued her own projects worldwide as a freelance journalist and worked at The New York Times and TIME. Toral is the recipient of an Emmy Award and others from Pictures of the Year International, the NPPA, RFK Human Rights Journalism Awards, PDN Photo Annual, The Deadline Press Club and Ortega & Gasset. She is a member of Fotovisura/GUILD